


HufflePuff, Puff, Pass

by imamaryanne



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, Recreational Drug Use, mentions of Ernie/Justin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-27
Updated: 2012-08-27
Packaged: 2017-11-13 00:42:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/497480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imamaryanne/pseuds/imamaryanne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Neville has trouble with his disarming spell in DA meetings.  Hannah brings him to the Hufflepuff common room to help him out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	HufflePuff, Puff, Pass

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sluttytequila](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=sluttytequila).



> On facebook, I mentioned to Sluttytequila that I thought Hufflepuffs were really the school stoners. She liked the idea, and I ran with it.

Neville Longbottom walked out of the Room of Requirement after one particularly disastrous DA meeting.  All they had been doing was _expelliarmus._ This was something they'd learnt in second year. But Neville couldn't do it. Harry Potter could do it.  Harry could probably manage a wandless _expelliarmus_ at this point.  But Neville still struggled with it.

He was so lost in his thoughts he didn't notice Hannah Abbot standing at the end of the seventh-floor hall until he was practically on top of her. 

"Neville," she said coolly.

"Er- Hi Hannah," Neville responded.

"You were having a bit of trouble with your _expelliarmus,_ weren't you?"

Neville shifted slightly, "You noticed?"

Hannah nodded. "I think I can help."

Neville looked back at the door to the Room of Requirement. "Isn't that what the DA is about though? Getting help in Defense Against the Dark Arts?"

Hannah smiled, "Come on," she beckoned him. "Follow me."

Neville hesitated, but Hannah was really pretty and, he had to face it, he couldn't afford to pass up help on this charm, so he chose to follow her.  He followed her down seven flights of stairs. It appeared they were going to the kitchens, but Hannah made a sudden turn down a hallway.

"Are we going to your common room, then?" Neville asked. He'd never been to the Hufflepuff's dormitory, but he was aware where it was.

"Of course."

"What kind of help are you going to give me?"

Hannah smiled and opened the door to the common room. Neville was surprised she walked right in. The doorway was not hidden by a portrait, nor was there a password to get in. It was a plain door, marked "Hufflepuff," and anyone could walk right in.

Neville looked around the common room. It was far less ornate than the Gryffindor common room. In fact, it seemed downright utilitarian.  The Hufflepuff colors were well represented, but the furniture around the fireplace and along the walls seemed bland and somewhat uncomfortable.  There was a corner devoted to famous Hufflepuffs, though even that seemed it was put together slapdash. The only portraits Neville recognized were of Helga Hufflepuff and Cedric Diggory.

A group of older students, they must have all been fifth through seventh years, were sitting in a small circle on the floor in front of the fireplace.  They were giggling and when Hannah walked in, they all looked up. "Hannah!" Screeched one girl. "Come join us."

"I will. And I brought a guest," Hannah pointed to Neville. "Does everyone know Neville Longbottom? He's Gryffindor, fifth year."

Neville waved at the circle of students as they shouted their hellos happily.

Ernie, who'd missed the D.A. meeting, looked at Hannah with concern.  "You sure about him, Hannah? Is he cool?"

Hannah nodded. "I'm sure he's cool."

Neville felt a swell of pride. He'd never been called cool before, and it felt quite nice. At once, though, Neville realized there was a funny smell in the air. It smelled vaguely bitter, with a hint of the smell of the potions classroom.

"What is this?"

"This," Hannah said to Neville, pointing to her tight circle of Hufflepuff friends, "is how a Hufflepuff relaxes."

"But....How is this supposed to help me at my expelliarmus charm?"

"Because Neville," Hannah took his hand and dragged him to the circle, "I think your problem is that you're too uptight to work the spell properly."

"I think I'm just rubbish." Neville looked up sharply when his saying that caused a peal of laughter from some of the girls in the circle.

"No," Hannah insisted. "You need to relax."

Someone handed Hannah a wand, which Neville saw had been hollowed out and one end stuffed with....something. Neville narrowed his eyes and leaned in for a better look.  "Is that....scurvy grass mixed with," Neville leant in and sniffed, "ginger root?"

Hannah mussed Neville's hair. "Good little herbologist. And yes, you soak scurvy grass and ginger root in a calming draught for twenty-four hours, then allow it to dry in the sun.  And you end up with this," Hannah gestured toward the wand. "You put it in a wand and smoke it.  And it relaaaaxes you."

Neville thought for a moment. "All right. You steal the scurvy grass from the greenhouses. Ginger root, you can get anywhere-"

"We like to steal it from the kitchens though," said Ernie MacMillan, his eyes closed and leaning lazily onto Justin Finch-Fletchley.

"So where do you get a calming draught?"

"Madame Pomfrey," Hannah said simply.

"You what?"

Hannah rolled her eyes. "Oh, Neville. You don't _honestly_ think I'm really so worked up over my O.W.L.'s, do you? I just act like the studying is getting to me and Madame Pomfrey provides me with all the calming draughts I need."

Neville looked at her. "That's kind of brilliant, actually. But _aren't_  you at all worried about O.W.L.'s?

"Nah," Hannah said dismissively. "I'm pretty sure I'm going to end up working in a shop. I don't need so many Os and Es for that."

"My Gran would die if I end up working in a shop," Neville admitted.

Hannah smiled. "I see why you're so uptight," she held out the wand to him.

Neville hesitated, Hannah kept smiling. "You don't need to do this," she said seriously. "But I do think it might help."

Neville took a deep breath, "OK then," and took the wand from Hannah.

Hannah leaned toward Neville and he was momentarily distracted by her body pressed lightly against his, by the smell of lemongrass in her long dark-blond braid.  He shook head to clear it and listened as Hannah described how to inhale the substance, hold it in and breathe it out. "It's OK to cough," she assured him.  "It's hard not to, your first time."

Neville held the wand to his lips and inhaled sharply. His lungs seared for a moment as he tried to hold the smoke in. He couldn't manage more than two seconds before exhaling all the smoke with several harsh coughs.  Neville blushed as the others laughed.

Hannah shot the Hufflepuffs a dirty look. "No worries," she told Neville "No one can hold it in for long at first."

When Neville nodded, he realized his head felt light. "Can I try again?" he asked.

"Sure," Hannah said. "It's called Puff, Puff, Pass. You can take two puffs if you want to."

Justin snorted, "That's not why it's called Puff, Puff, Pass, Hannah!" Neville looked at Justin and found he was only vaguely surprised to see him cuddled up with Ernie MacMillan.  Neville _thought_ maybe he should have been shocked to realize they were a couple, but instead he felt really happy for the two of them.

Neville turned his attention back to the wand. He focused on inhaling softer but longer.  He felt it in his lungs still, but it was less harsh than before.  He managed to hold it in his lungs for a couple seconds longer, before releasing with another cough.  He passed the wand back to Hannah, who took a hit for herself. 

Neville's whole body relaxed. He leaned back on his elbows and watched the wand being passed around the circle. He was simultaneously hyper-aware of his surroundings, while feeling very far away from it all. He stared at Hannah, watching her joke and laugh with a sixth year sitting next to her, and Neville decided he liked this feeling.

At once he jolted up. "Hannah! Take your wand."

Hannah looked confused, but picked the wand up regardless.  Neville pointed his wand at her, "Expelliarmus!"

Hannah's wand came flying out of her hand, and Neville caught it with one smooth motion.

Hannah cheered wildly. "See, Neville! I told you I knew exactly what you needed to get that spell. Who says Harry Potter is the only one who can teach you?"

Neville smiled at Hannah, feeling both relaxed and emboldened by his success, he leaned in and kissed her.


End file.
